DNA is what makes you look like you. It contains your body's instructions for your hair and eye color, ear shape, your height, and much, much more. Do other living things also have DNA or is DNA only found in humans? You can answer that question yourself (and have your first look at your own DNA) by doing this project.
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BioChem_p042

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Time Required

Average (6-10 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

A DNA extraction kit, listed in the Materials tab, is used for this project.

Cost

Low ($20 - $50)

Safety

Adult help is needed to cut a strawberry. The DNA extraction buffer is harmless if you touch it, but do not taste or swallow it.

It is fun to shake up a snow globe and watch the "snow" slowly fall. You can imagine that if the snow fell down very quickly it would be disappointing. But there are times when scientists in a laboratory want this to happen. Scientists use samples that have liquid mixed with small, solid pieces (like the inside of a snow globe), and they need all of the solid pieces in a clump, separated from the liquid. Instead of waiting for the pieces to slowly fall out of the liquid, scientists speed up…
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BioChem_p041

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Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

You will need to purchase the centrifuge tubes online. See the Materials and Equipment section for details.

All living things have DNA inside their cells. How do scientists extract the DNA from cells in order to study it? In this science experiment you can make your own DNA extraction kit from household chemicals and use it to extract DNA from strawberries.
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How much iron is in your cereal? In this experiment, you will devise a way of testing foods for supplemental iron additives. Then you will use your design to test different breakfast cereals to see how much iron they contain. Which brand of cereal will have the most iron in it?
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How do scientists "copy" DNA? They use a process called the Polymerase Chain Reaction, or PCR. The key to making this process work is having a short piece of DNA, called a primer, that will stick to the larger piece of DNA you want to copy, called a template. In this science project, you will test how the number of matches and mismatches in a primer will affect its ability to stick, or anneal, to the DNA template during PCR.
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Sometimes science can be really messy or use pretty disgusting ingredients. That is what it takes to understand how the world works, even if the experiment isn't pretty. Do you like chemical reactions that stink and ooze foamy bubbles? Do you think it sounds fun to make a super gross liver smoothie? Then this is the experiment for you!
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BioChem_p030

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Time Required

Very Short (≤ 1 day)

Prerequisites

none

Material Availability

Readily available

Cost

Very Low (under $20)

Safety

Use caution when handling the sharp knife and the blender. An adult may need to assist with these steps. Also completely disinfect any surface that the raw liver touches.

Imagine that you could make an important piece of laboratory equipment in your kitchen. With this science project idea, you can! You will create your own centrifuge out of a salad spinner and some putty. In science labs, centrifuges are used to separate different liquids and/or solids from each other. You can load your homemade centrifuge with samples and see how they separate. What
do you think happens to melted butter in a centrifuge?
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BioChem_p040

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- Less Details

Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

You will need to purchase the centrifuge tubes online. See the Materials and Equipment section for details.

You can find this page online at: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/search.shtml?v=ia&ia=BioChem&d=1,2,3

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